EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE:

WHAT CAN LEARNED LAWYERS LEARN FROM THE LESS LEARNED?

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Why do smart lawyers fail?
Legal training develops excellence in technical skills, legal
analysis, reasoning and writing. This narrow emphasis
on technical competence neglects many of the skills
that make a good lawyer; as lawyers climb through the
ranks, client-handling skills and managerial skills assume
increasing importance.
The well-known American psychologist Martin Seligman
has pointed out powerfully that the training a lawyer
receives at law school and in the early years in practice
develops negative thinking skills: the ability to problem-
spot, i.e., the ability to spot risk and the potential
downside in any situation on which one is called to
advise. In one study of law school students, there was a
strong correlation between those with negative thinking
skills and higher academic achievement (Sattereld,
Monahan, & Seligman, 1997).
A lawyer with these negative thinking skills may be
whip-smart, but is less likely to be a good team player or
a good manager. Chief legal ofcers, managing partners
and other senior lawyers all say the same thing: their
most successful managers are not the smartest lawyers
or those with the best law degrees they are generally
those who have good self-awareness, who know how to
get on with people, and who can spot risk but who also
understand how to work with their clients to nd solutions
to their problems.
Susie Lees, Executive Vice President and General Counsel
at the Fortune 500 insurance giant Allstate, manages a
department of 500 lawyers and a legal budget that runs
into the tens of millions. She ascribes her success to her
people smarts. A lot of lawyers are technically more
procient than I am. I have always known how to read
people, how to get along with them. In my experience,
what makes an effective CLO is someone who has great
people skills. You can always hire smart outside counsel
to give the technical advice.
Bill Mordan, Senior Vice President and Group General
Counsel at Reckitt Benckiser, echoes these words,
When we wanted to dramatically improve training
and development in the legal team, we focused on the
misunderstood psychological barriers to great teamwork.
First, we asked each member of the legal team to
take a condential psychological prole and speak
with an independent consultant who could help them
better understand their strengths and weaknesses. The
following year we focused on international understanding
and cooperation, building on our self-awareness to better
understand how our foreign colleagues see each of us.
This forced a discussion on how we work as a unied
global legal team, when all of us are from different
cultures and have different legal training. The end result
was a more cohesive and cooperative international legal
department, where people understand how they can
best contribute and consider the multi-cultural views of
others.
In a recent survey commissioned by the well-known
UK law rm Nabarro LLP, 82% of general counsel
(GCs) surveyed felt that they would be more effective in
their current position with improved inuencing skills,
and 88% felt that improved inuencing skills would
increase their effectiveness over the course of their
career. Interpersonal skills form a key part of inuence,
In my teens I studied hard and got into a great university. In my twenties I studied hard and got a great law degree
and a job in a great law rm. A few years later I hit a barrier and couldnt gure out why I wasnt making progress and
why the less academically gifted lawyers were moving ahead of me.
I wasnt the smartest student at law school, not by any means. But I have always understood what makes people tick
and always known my own strengths and weaknesses. Im not afraid to ask questions and not afraid to look dumb.
Too many brighter lawyers dont know how to get on with people, how to make their clients feel loved.
EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
WHAT CAN LEARNED LAWYERS LEARN FROM THE LESS LEARNED?
By Jonathan Middleburgh and Lucy Butterworth
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Emotional Intelligence
highlighted by the nding that GCs typically have to deal
with various stakeholder groups and adapt their approach
for each group. 87% of the GCs surveyed felt that these
skills were trainable, but only 36% had had any form of
training, coaching or mentoring in this area. These results
again underscore the importance of developing strong
interpersonal skills.
What is emotional intelligence?
Emotional intelligence (EI) is by no means a new concept.
Its importance, we will suggest, has been in encouraging
the development of a growing body of scientic knowledge
that can help the less emotionally intelligent grow their EI.
The concept of EI nds historical echoes in the writings of
the ancients. In the Judaeo-Christian tradition, the religious
sources contain contemplative, meditative and other
practices aimed at developing EI-type skills. The Buddhist
sources similarly talk of developing wisdom mind; many
of the skills they discuss we would think of today as EI
skills. There is an understanding in Buddhism that these
skills are trainable.
In more recent times, three academic psychologists
Howard Gardner, Peter Salovey and John Mayer did
ground-breaking work on EI in the 1970s and 1980s. But it
was a journalist, Daniel Goleman, rather than an academic
who popularized EI. His bestseller Emotional Intelligence: Why
it can matter more than IQ did for EI what Freud did for the
talking therapies.
EI theory recognizes that the traditional view of academic
intelligence is too narrow to encapsulate the full range of
intelligences. It asserts and has convincingly shown
that cognitive ability alone does not predict success in both
work and life. IQ is a relatively robust measure of intellect
or cognitive ability but it does not measure other important
skills such as social intelligence, self-awareness, mental
resilience, robustness and so on. Thus, while cognitive
ability is a reasonable predictor of career success, evidence
suggests that beyond a certain level of IQ, increasingly
high levels of IQ do not correlate with increased success
as a lawyer. Instead, the skills which make up emotional
intelligence have more of an impact on success
(Goleman, 2011).
There is no agreed denition of EI. Salovey and Mayer
(1990) dene EI as a form of social intelligence that
involves the ability to monitor ones own and others
feelings and emotions, to discriminate among them, and
to use this information to guide ones thinking and action
(p. 189). They outline four key areas of EI:
Emotional perception and expression: the ability to
correctly identify how people are feeling
Emotional facilitation of thought: the ability to create
emotions and to integrate ones feelings into the way
one thinks
Emotional understanding: the ability to understand the
causes of emotions
Emotional management: the ability to discover and
implement effective strategies utilizing ones emotions to
assist in goal achievement
Goleman (2004) takes a different approach and suggests
that there are ve domains of EQ:
Self-awareness
Self-regulation
Self-motivation
Social awareness
Social skills
Other academics, psychologists and behavioral scientists
have proposed different denitions of EI but they all contain
similar elements.
What does emotional intelligence look like?
The denitions of EI have more commonality than difference.
The EQ-i 2.0 model is helpful to illustrate EI components.
This model is based on the work of Reuven Bar-On (2004)
and grounds a suite of psychometric tools which can be
used to measure EI.
The EQ-i 2.0 model consists of ve components: self-
perception, self-expression, interpersonal, decision making
and stress management. Each of these has a further three
sub-components, for example, decision making consists of
problem solving skills, reality testing and impulse control.
Altogether, the model provides a set of emotional and social
skills which comprise emotional intelligence. According to
this model, each individual has a different prole of skills,
and thus may be stronger in some areas than others.

Others (e.g., Goleman, 2004; Brusheld, 2012) have
suggested that EI can be observed and measured via a
number of behavioral indicators such as:
Self-condence
A self-deprecating sense of humor
Trustworthiness
Openness to change
A strong drive to achieve
Optimism
Cross-cultural sensitivity
Effectiveness in leading change
Persuasiveness
Empathy
Remaining unustered when challenged
Awareness of ones own emotional state
In practical terms, there are a number of commercially
available psychometric tools that claim to measure EI: for
example the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence
Test (MSCEIT), the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire
(TEIQue), the Emotional and Social Competence Inventory
(ESCI) and the Work Group Emotional Intelligence
Prole (WEIP).
Why is EI important?
Traditionally, IQ has been seen as the predictor of success
in life. However, both research and practice have shown that
this is not always the case. For example, when 95 Harvard
students (graduating in the 1940s) were followed into middle
age, the men with the highest test scores in college were not
particularly successful compared to their lower scoring peers
in terms of salary, productivity or status in their eld (Vaillant,
1977). At best, IQ accounts for only 25% of variance in
performance (Hunter & Hunter, 1984), and some have
argued it is even less. When IQ is considered alongside EQ,
a far greater proportion of variance can be explained.
Emotional intelligence is particularly important for those
in leadership positions. According to Goleman (2004), the
most effective leaders are those who have the traditional
leadership skills coupled with high EI. Research has shown
that emotional competencies account for up to two-thirds of
the distinctive characteristics of top performers (Mines et al.,
2004), and the most effective decisions are made when both
emotional and intellectual aspects of the brain are engaged
(Brusheld, 2012).
There are numerous examples in the research suggesting
that EI can be a powerful predictor of success. In his article
The Business Case for Emotional Intelligence, Cary
Cherniss cites various examples, among them:
Experienced partners in a multinational consulting
rm were assessed on EI competencies. Partners who
scored above the median on nine or more of the 20
EI competencies delivered $1.2 million more prot
from their accounts than did other partners a 139%
incremental gain (Boyatzis, 1999).
An analysis of more than 300 top-level executives from
fteen global companies showed that six emotional
competencies distinguished stars from the average:
inuence, team leadership, organizational awareness,
self-condence, achievement drive and leadership
(Spencer, L. M., Jr., 1997).
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Reproduced with permission from Multi-Health Systems Inc.
Copyright 2011 Multi-Health Systems Inc. All rights reserved.
Based on the Bar-On EQ-i model by Reuven Bar-On, copyright 1997.
FIGURE 1 - THE EQ-i 2.0 MODEL
A study of 130 executives found that how well people
handled their own emotions determined how much other
people preferred to deal with them (Walter V. Clarke
Associates, 1997).
For 515 senior executives analyzed by the search rm
Egon Zehnder International, those who were primarily
strong in EI were more likely to succeed than those who
were strongest in either relevant previous experience
or IQ. In other words, emotional intelligence was a
better predictor of success than either relevant previous
experience or high IQ. More specically, those executives
who were high in EI featured in 74% of the successes
and only in 24% of the failures. The study included
executives in Latin America, Germany and Japan, and the
results were almost identical in all three cultures (as cited
by Cherniss, 1999).
More recently, research has shown that those with higher
EI scores are more likely to be highly protable (Stein et al.,
2009), and that higher EI scores are related to improved
teamwork and conict management (Clarke, 2010). A review
of research looking into the relationship between EI and job
performance showed that EI can predict performance above
and beyond personality and cognitive ability (OBoyle et al.,
2011), further highlighting the importance of EI.
Why is EI important in a law rm or
department?
Lawyers typically have above average to very high IQs
high academic ability being the key screening factor
determining entrance into the profession. Other factors,
however, differentiate a technically able lawyer from a
stellar practitioner.
EI has been identied as being particularly important in job
roles where there is customer interaction (Boyle et al. 2011).
Practicing law involves not only working with clients, but
also colleagues and other professionals (Slocum, 2011).
Unfortunately, however, lawyers typically score lower than
the general public in EI (Muir, n.d.). Specically, lawyers are
generally low on the social side of EI when compared to the
general population (Bradberry et al., 2009).
Traditionally, emotional display is generally low among
lawyers, who are taught to suspend emotions. As a
result, emotions are often suppressed and ignored in
legal environments, meaning that emotional intelligence is
typically overlooked despite being a useful skill. Fortunately,
law departments and law rms that encourage lawyers to
develop their EI can reap a number of benets, including
improved client relationships, enhanced leadership and
stronger team and employee relations. This, in turn, can
have a positive impact on employee turnover and business
development activities (Mines et al., 2004), ultimately
leading to greater productivity, protability and employee
fulllment (Brusheld, 2012).
The academic ndings echo our own experience and our
conversations with senior lawyers. Jacqueline Barrett, Group
Compliance Director at Vodafone and herself a graduate
in psychology, comments, Lawyers develop early on in
their careers as technical specialists. They often nd the
transition to strategic business advisor a difcult one. Their
emotional intelligence skills are often underdeveloped in
comparison with their technical skills.
Similarly, Susie Lees, Executive Vice President and General
Counsel at Allstate, comments, A trusted adviser is
someone who knows how to get along with their clients,
who knows how to respond instinctively to their clients
needs. This requires not just the ability to read a clients
needs, but self-awareness and, in particular, an awareness
of the impact you are having on those around you.
The good news is that everyone has the potential to develop
their EI, and there are an increasing number of ways in
which to do this.
Can emotional intelligence be learned?
Although there is still some debate, it is generally agreed
that EI can be learned and improved upon regardless of an
individuals stage in her career (Mines et al, 2004). Although
it is trainable, EI does come easier to some than others
(Goleman, 2004).
EI training requires a relatively high investment in time and
effort, because it involves changing habits and behaviors
which have been formed over time, often over many years
(Brusheld, 2012). But it doesnt need to take as much time
as you might think; Nelis and colleagues (2011) designed
an evidence-based training program which covered
theoretical aspects of emotional intelligence and practical
exercises over 18 hours of training. The program had an
immediate impact on EI that was maintained six months
later. Improvements were also seen in the physical health,
mental health, happiness, life satisfaction, global social
functioning and employability of participants.
Emotional Intelligence
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The New York Times reported about an important book on
developing EI, in which Chade-Meng Tan, an early employee
at Google, describes the transformational effects of an
EI program he designed for the company. An engineer
by background, Tan created the program in collaboration
with a Zen master, a CEO, a Stanford University scientist
and with Daniel Goleman himself. The course, which
accepts 60 people and runs for seven weeks, focuses on
the development of three core skills: attention training,
self-knowledge and self-mastery, and the creation of useful
mental habits.
The article quotes Richard Fernandez, director of executive
development at Google and a psychologist by training, as
saying he saw a signicant difference in his work behavior
since taking the class. Im denitely much more resilient
as a leader, he comments. I listen more carefully and
with less reactivity in high-stakes meetings. I work with a
lot of senior executives who can be very demanding, but
that doesnt faze me anymore. Its almost an emotional and
mental bank account. Ive now got much more of a buffer
there. Similarly, Johanna Sistek, a trademark lawyer at
Google, says the emotional skills she rened in the class
help her focus on her many tasks, despite a re hose of
professional demands, the article reports. Like most of her
colleagues, she still faces instant deadlines but says they
no longer freak her out.
Our own experience is that emotional intelligence skills
are as learnable as many other skills. This, to us, is hardly
surprising if you can learn how to act, how to paint and
how to play a musical instrument, it makes sense that you
can develop behavioral skills. Of course, the degree the
skills are learned is limited by ones natural ability. In the
same way that you cannot teach musical or artistic genius,
you cannot turn someone with poor inuencing skills into a
Winston Churchill or a Ronald Reagan.
So what works best in terms of teaching emotional
intelligence skills to lawyers? The answer depends, as one
would expect, on the precise needs and the client. Some of
the ways we have taught EI skills are as follows:
One-to-one coaching. Working one-to-one with an
individual helps that individual develop greater self-
awareness. The coach can hold up a mirror to that
person, giving feedback as to his way of interacting
with others. The coachee can use the coach to explore
how others experience him and can road test new
and different behaviors in the coaching session before
trying them out with colleagues. For example, recently
a coachee found himself embattled and facing criticism
in a new position. Colleagues said that he had sharp
elbows and poor judgment. Our coach was able to get
detailed behavioral feedback from those colleagues as
to the behaviors that were causing difculty and to share
her own experience of the clients personal style. Within
three coaching sessions, the colleagues reported a
dramatic shift in the individuals behavior and signicant
improvement in working relationships.
Pairing individuals with experienced corporate
actors. Sometimes one-to-one coaching works well
when the individual being coached also works with an
experienced corporate actor a professional actor who
specializes in corporate role-playing. A skillful coach
can often achieve a breakthrough, but occasionally
it is extremely helpful for the coachee to work with a
corporate actor. For example, one recent coachee in a
law rm was having limited impact as a junior partner.
He had low condence and colleagues said he lacked
gravitas. A corporate actor worked on aspects of his
voice projection and how he physically carried himself.
The results were astonishing his key mentor said that
colleagues saw an entirely different individual and that he
now had a key place at the partnership table.
Workshops and leadership development programs.
Workshops can focus on particular aspects of EI or
particular skills such as impact and inuence. We have
run successful workshops, for example, on inuencing
skills and behaving as a strategic business partner.
These are equally applicable to both law rms and law
departments. Both face similar challenges of how to
build a trusted business adviser relationship with their
clients. Workshops, properly designed, involve reection
on how most effectively to behave towards a valued
client but also involve practicing skills. In one recent
workshop, for example, we worked with senior leaders
in a law department and had some key internal clients
visit the workshop to talk about how they experienced
working with those leaders. The feedback suggested that
the leaders had to work on aspects of collaboration and
their communication style. We spent the balance of the
workshop and a subsequent workshop dening what
needed to change and practicing those new skills. We
subsequently brought back the internal clients to discuss
whether they had noticed change and, if so, how. The
clients appreciated being involved in this type of exercise
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and reported some signicant improvements in the
partnering relationship.
Our experience is that few law rms or law departments
invest the time and effort to develop higher levels of EI in
their key employees. Given the importance of these skills
and the critical impact on key relationships, morale and
productivity this greatly surprises us.
Developing emotional intelligence: some
concluding tips
The most effective methods to develop EI require
considerable investment in both time and effort and typically
require skillful external or internal coaching. To whet the
appetite, here are a few small ways in which you can start
to develop your own EI.
To develop self-awareness, try taking some time each
day to observe how you react to other people and
stressful situations. What is your typical emotional and
behavioral response? Do any of your key clients trigger
a particular emotional response? How do you manage
this? If you nd a particular client getting under your skin,
try to work out why. Lawyers who understand their own
and their clients hot buttons are able to work more
effectively with their clients.
To develop self-regulation, try breathing and relaxation
exercises and practice your ability to stay calm in
pressured situations. Get feedback from those around
you (in particular trusted colleagues, close friends and
family) as to how they perceive you. Do they see you as
stressed? Do you seem to be calmer than usual?
To develop motivation, reect on your personal goals and
make a note of these. Consider your values and think
about how these inuence your behavior.
To develop empathy, take more time to notice the
moods of your clients and colleagues and to think about
the causes of these by putting yourself in the other
persons shoes. If a particular colleague is irritating you,
think about the situation from your colleagues point
of view. Have you done anything to contribute to the
situation? By changing your behavior could you help the
situation improve?
To develop social skills, work on your communication and
conict resolution skills. Try to notice the body language
of others. Does their body language send a different
message than their verbal communication?
These are some ways to work on self-improvement and
these techniques can certainly help move the dial,
but there is no quick x. Self-help techniques typically
oversimplify the complex process of change. In the same
way that self-help frequently fails when it comes to making
personal change dieting is an obvious example self-help
can founder when changing workplace behaviors.
We strongly recommend that senior lawyers invest as
much time and effort into working on emotional intelligence
skills and the so-called soft skills as they do on other,
technical, so-called hard skills. In our experience, it is the
soft skills that make the real difference leading to increased
productivity, stronger leadership and higher levels of
organizational impact and inuence.
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Emotional Intelligence
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